Revolving door



Aug. "13, 1957 K. PARKER REVOLVING DOOR Filed March so. 1955 [wen-2 0)"Ken/761W Par/fer y 6 M REVOLVING DOOR Kenneth Parker, Janesville, Wis.

Application March 30, 1955, Serial No. 498,019 1 Claim. 01. 20-18) Thepresent invention relates to revolving doors.

The invention has to do more particularly with safety provision in arevolving door.

I have observed that revolving doors hold a certain degree of danger,particularly to older people, or infirm people." Because of the factthat often several people pass through a revolving door at the sametime, each one does not have complete control over the speed at which itis revolved when he is passing through it. If a person wishes to passthrough the door slowly, it may not be possible to doso, at least withcase, since another person behind him or coming in the other directionmay rotate the door fast and force it against him. A substantial dangerexists in such circumstance, particularly in the case "of an old orinfirm person who cannot move fast to avoid the danger. The danger maybe physical, as when the door is forced against ones feet, causing hisfootto be caught between the wing of the door and the doorframe, or,pushing him over. Even though there may be no actual danger of physicalinjury, there may be fear of such danger and consequent hesitation topass through the door.

An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a revolving doorhaving safety means incorporated therein effective for obviating thedanger and fear of. danger mentioned above.

' Another and more specific object is to provide a revolving door havingflexible wings'capable of yielding in the event the door is forcedagainst a person, eliminating the possibility of the door being forcedagainst his foot, or of catching his foot between the door and thedoorframe.

,A further object is to provide a revolving door having flexible wings,as referred to, in which the wings have special shape, namely, taperingfrom the center of the dooroutwardly with the two-fold advantage thatthe door is less responsive and hence not so easily forced against aperson, and the construction minimizes the possibility of a personscatching his foot or ankle between the wing of the door and thedoorframe.

Another object is to provide a revolving door of the foregoing charactercapable of incorporation in doorframes as presently constructed, so thatspecially constructed doorframes are not necessary, with consequentadvantage in economy.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing detail description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a door construction embodying theprinciples of the present invention, and a section of a wall in which itis contained;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the door construction of Fig. 1taken on line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal view, similar to Fig. 2 but on a reduced scaleand somewhat diagrammatic in form, of a modified form of doorconstruction.

Referring in detail to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, adoor construction embodying the principles of the invention is disposedin a wall 12, a portion of which is shown and which has an opening 14for the door. The door includes a rotatable door proper or door member16,opposite casing members or elements 18, a head 20, and of course thefloor element 22.

The door member 16 includes a central shaft 24 and a plurality of wings26 mounted in the shaft and extending radially therefrom. These wings,also sometimes known as panels, cooperate with the casing members 18 insealing the doorway against the weather as in conventional revolvingdoors. Each of the casing members 18 is approximately a quadrant inextent, or slightly more, so that regardless of the position in whichthe door member 16 stops, at least one of the wings or panels will be insealing engagement with each of the casing members.

In accordance with the main purpose of the invention, namely, theprovision of means for presenting accident or injury to a person usingthe door, the wings 26 are of flexible and resilient nature. The dottedline position of one of the wings in Fig. 2 shows that it is readilyflexible over a major portion of its radial length to a dis-, placedposition enabling a person to pass between the wings and the casingmember 18, or as an equivalent condition, enabling the wings to passover a person standing in the doorway adjacent the casing member 18.

The wings 26 are preferably of a flexible, plastic material, and I havefound that Vinylite serves well for the purpose. The wings are ofrectangular outline shape, dimensioned for filling and sealing thedoorway, namely, of radial extent to engage the casing members 18 in asealing or wiping action, and of a height sufficient to engage the floorand header in a similar manner, namely, in sealing or Wiping engagement.This sealing effect may result from direct engagement by the materialforming the body of the wings, made possible by the fact that thematerial is flexible, but it is within the compass of the invention toprovide thin and more flexible strips, or astragals, on the edges of thewings to engage the casing members and the floor and ceiling.

The shaft 24 is mounted for rotation on a vertical axis in the doorway,supported by the floor element 22 and guided in the head 20. Thespecific detail mounting means for the shaft may be as preferred such asfor example hearings in the floor and head with pins or reduced portionson the ends of the shaft rotatably mounted therein. The wings 26 may besupported in the shaft as by providing a central core member of theshaft and outer strips secured thereto forming grooves in which theinner edges of the wings are gripped.

The material forming the wings 26 is of such rigidity as to maintain itsshape in the absence of external forces tending to distort it. Theaverage thickness of the Wings is such that each wing maintains itsrectangular shape so as to sealingly engage the intended elements at allpoints while being supported only at its inner edge by the central shaft24.

To work toward the retention of the wings in upright supported positionwhile permitting the desired flexibility of them, it is desired that thewings be somewhat rigid at the radially inner portions. The partiallyrigid construction also facilitates the gripping action of the strips onthe central shaft on the wings. The rigid portion may extend radiallyoutwardly a short distance, while at their outer portions, the wings arevery flexible so that they will yield and pass over a person in themanner mentioned without injuring the person.

It is also preferred that the Wings 26 taper or decrease in thickness inradially outward direction. Such shape forms one specific means ofproducing greater rigidity at the inner portion than at the outerportion, and the wings increase in flexibility in outward direction,since the thinner the material the greater will be. the. flexibility.The feature has two main advantages in the function of the door; one,the door is less responsive to impulsive thrusts such as would otherwiserotate the door fast, and the second is that greater flexibility at theouter edge. substantially eliminates the possibility of a person beingcaught between the wings and a fixed portion of the doorframe. Anadditional advantage is that the thicker portion facilitates mountingthe wing on the central shaft.

Concerning the first of the two advanatges just mentioned, the greaterflexibility at the outer portions of the wings renders the door lessresponsive to sudden impulses, I have observed that many people hesitategoing through a revolving door, particularly people who are older andless sprightly. Such people usually delay passing through until they aresure no one else is near the door. A person who is fearful of suchdangers will have the satisfaction that he is free from such injury inpassing through a door made according to the present invention. As he isusing it, the door member 16, is being rotated by him at, for example,some moderate speed, but if someone else who is of impulsive charactershould pass through the door at the same time and attempt to suddenlyspeed up the rotation of it, he would apply the force at the outerportion of the wings, but since that portion of the wings is relativelyflexible, the wings would not respond quickly to the impulse and hencewould not injure the subject person.

With reference to the second advantage stated, even if the door shouldbe rotated fast, the danger to the subject personwould neverthelesscease to exist because if the door should be rotated as to be forcedagainst him, the outer portion or portions of the wings are so flexiblethat they would yield and pass by the person without in jury to him. Theouter portions of the wings are sufliciently flexible as not to causeany uncomfortable scratching, pushing or dragging effect on the person.v An old or infirm person finds it diflicult to step quickly incircumstances of danger or apparent danger so as to avoid injury to thefeet as might occur in revolving doors of conventional nature. The greatflexibility of the outer portions of the wings of the door member ofthis invention assure that a persons foot or ankle cannot become caughtbetween the panel and a fixed portion of the doorframe.

The user of the door is not only free of actual danger but free of fearof danger, and as an added precaution in this direction, the wings 26are made of transparent material. The user of the door not only has thesatisfaction that the actual danger is eliminated but has the additionalcomfort that there will be nooccasion for possible danger because of theopportunity he has of seeing through the doors so that he may await theoccasion when no one is approaching the door.

The door member 16 and the door construction, as a whole, can be adaptedto the revolving door framework constructions that are now in use. Thewall element. 12v and the. casing members, 18 as. well as the head 20are the same as are in use today in conventional doors, and therevolving door member 16 may be substituted for the correspondingrevolving door members now in use. Thus, conversion to a doorconstruction embodying the present invention may be made with a minimumof expense in both materials and time required.

A modified form of the invention is shown in ,Fig. 3. The constructionin this figure includes the door member 16 and casing members 28 ofpart-cylindrical form and of substantially quandrant extent, but ofgreater radius and provided with a plurality of flexible flaps or vanes30 mounted on the. inner concave surfaces 32. These flaps or vanes 30may be of the same material as the door member 26, namely, of flexibleplastic and are secured to the surface 32 in any desired manner. Theflaps extend from the floor to the head and seal with those elementsagainst the weather. The flaps are of course flexible and are free ofattachment to the floor and, head so that they may flex laterally. Theflaps, casing members 28, and the door member 16 are all so relativelyproportioned that the door member engages the inner edges of the flapsand seals the doorway against the weather. Preferably the flaps are ofrelatively thin material and they are spaced apart circumferentiallysuch distance that at least one flap always engages the wing. Thus addedprovision is made for eliminating any possibility of a person having hisfoot or ankle caught between the wing and the doorframe since theetfective engagement between those elements is between the Wings and theflaps 30. The wings of the door member 16 in the present case are alsopreferably flexible as are the wings in the form above described.

I claim:

A revolving door construction comprising a door memher having radialwings and mounted for rotation on a vertical axis, a pair of concavecasing members on opposite sides of the door member defining a passagetherebetween and positioned for efiective engagement by the wings of thedoor member, the casing members having means constituting the mediumthrough which the wings engage them which includes shell-like elementsspaced radially beyond the wing tips and a plurality of flexible flapssecured to the shell-like elements extending the height of the casingmembers and radially inwardly for engagement by the wings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,084,781 Shields June 22, 1937 2,240,942 Peremi et al May 6, 19412,279,572 Kann Apr. 14, 1942 2,619,167 Eckel Nov. 25, 1952 2,621,725Shacikoski Dec. 16, 1952 Maid-

